Chuck Fox’s organization holds third annual bicycle giveaway

Mike Greenlar/The Post-StandardChuck Fox of Hamilton with some of the donated bikes for the Community Bike Giveaway to be held at the Kallet Theatre on May 8 in Oneida.

To learn more:
To donate a bike to Community Bikes, volunteer or make a gift, call Chuck Fox at 824-8210 or 824-1427.
Community Bikes also has partnered with the Youth Policy Institute to provide new bikes to the Malawi Children’s Village and the North Malawi Malaria Project in Africa, and is working to send used bikes to the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Registrations are closed for this year’s program. To inquire about receiving a bike next year, call the Community Action Partnership at 684-7862, ext. 41.

When he tried to give away his old bicycle five years ago, Chuck Fox had no idea he would be giving away more than 200 donated bikes this year.

Community Bikes, the organization he created to find second homes for bikes, will hold its third annual giveaway 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Kallet Civic Center, 159 Main St., Oneida.

Fox, an avid recreational bicyclist, said it all started when he upgraded his bike and wondered if someone might like the old one. His wife, Maureen, a family specialist with the Madison County Community Action Partnership, said she had just met with a family that was looking for a used bike for running local errands.

The die was cast.

“I thought others might need bikes, too, so I started asking around town,” Chuck Fox said. “Scott Truett (who owned a local bicycle shop) got on board and said his customers often asked about donating their old bikes, too.” Word spread and it turned into a “true community project,” Fox said.

Today, businesses and individuals offer free storage and repair facilities, and volunteers spend months making the bikes bright and safe, he said. Participants have included the Morrisville State College auto club, Scout groups, the Oneida Kids Club, churches and other community organizations.

The first year, Fox said, he would collect and fix up donated bikes and, “We’d literally drive bikes to a kid’s home.”

As the numbers grew, individual deliveries became too difficult, so he started looking for a central location. Recipients are now asked to register for bikes through the Community Action Partnership and other service agencies. Maureen Fox said volunteers “help find families who are in need and we screen the families. We have a lot of volunteers working on this,” she said.

The site has changed over the years.

“The first year we did (the giveaway) at Madison Central School, then at Hamilton Central and now we’re at the Kallet Center in Oneida,” Fox said. “It’s a place we think we can settle in for a while.”

The giveaway has its benefits, Maureen Fox said.

“With their new bikes, kids get exercise and do things with their families that don’t cost money,” she said.

When the families arrive to receive their bicycles, “It’s like Wal-Mart on Black Friday,” Chuck Fox said. “Last year we gave away more than 200 bikes in just over two hours.”

On the big day, volunteers will match the bike with whatever the new owner wants to use it for, he said.

“Experienced volunteers like Scott (Truett) will adjust the seats and handlebars to fit the owner and they make sure they know how the brakes work,” Chuck Fox said.

“This year, for the first time, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department will be there with free helmets, which they will fit to the user,” he said. The new owners also get bike locks.

“Our volunteers have fun and the families (who get bikes) are appreciative,” he said.

“We don’t have a formal follow-up,” Fox said, “but we get dozens of anecdotal reports from service agencies the families work with. And it’s not just recreation. Some people even use the bike for commuting to work.”